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Factors that Contribute Specifically to White Supremacy Movements

· As might be expected, white supremacist groups are more likely
to flourish in communities that are most sympathetic to racist beliefs
(Sheffield, 1992; Anti-Defamation League, 1995)

· From an historical and sociological point of view, racism is
more than the prejudicial beliefs of individuals. For example, we face
persistent racial inequality in terms of income and wealth (Darity Jr.
and Meyers Jr., 1998; Oliver and Shapiro, 1997). It is only within the
past three decades that years of legal segregation and state-sanctioned
inequality have begun to be dismantled.

· American society has experienced tremendous social change, sparked
by the civil rights movement, women's movement and gay and lesbian movement.
These have been perceived by many white men as personal attacks.

· What it means to be a white man is no longer secure and white
male privilege no longer proceeds unquestioned. Many white, American
men feel under siege and vulnerable, facing a "crisis of masculinity" (Gibson
1994; Kimmel 1996). This has strengthened white supremacist movements
and other men's movements, like the Promise Keepers (Diamond 1998).

· Many white men believe, erroneously, that the playing field has
been leveled, and that discrimination is no longer a reality in America
today. Programs aimed at increasing opportunities for women and minorities
are seen as providing them with unfair advantage. Programs like affirmative
action have been labeled reverse discrimination, despite evidence to
the contrary (Reskin, 1998). Growing numbers of white males feel that
they are now an oppressed minority (Gallagher 1995; Wellman, 1997).

· The overall shift to the right in American politics, the increasing
influence of the religious right and the rise of fundamentalism and the
resurgence in biological explanations for racial inequality, provide
a congenial climate for the beliefs of white supremacist groups (Diamond
1995, 1998; Dyer 1997; Omi 1991; Potok 1999; Stock 1996). So too does
the defeat of the U.S. in Vietnam; the loss of the Soviet Union as the
evil nemesis; the perceived decline of the U.S. and the creation of a "new
world order"; fears that white people are becoming a minority in
the U.S.; and fear of Y2K calamity and the millenium (Diamond 1995, 1998;
Lamy 1996).

References

The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. 1995. The Skinhead International:
A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York.

Diamond, Sara. 1998. Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence
of the Christian Right. New York: Guilford Press.

Diamond, Sara. 1995. Roads To Dominion: Right-Wing Movement and Political
Power in the United States. New York: The Guilford Press.

Dyer, Joel. 1997. Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City Is Only The
Beginning. Boulder: Westview Press.